1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the general field of sports equipment and more specifically to the field of sports equipment storage accessories.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Sportsmen who collect or use fire arms, as a general rule, take particularly good care of the weapons they own including the cleaning and storage aspects of responsible ownership. With regard to handguns, most owners keep their small guns locked in a secure location, and often owners will have a commercial safe in their home for the sole purpose of securing their handguns.
One of the inconveniences of storing handguns is that it is convention to store a handgun by laying it on its side. In some situations the gun is in the original case it was in when purchased, in other situations the gun is simply laid on a towel or blanket. Unfortunately, space in an affordable safe is generally limited and therefore storing handguns quickly uses the available space, leaving the active owner in a state of consternation.
Some typical methods of storing guns known to the Applicant are shown in U.S. Patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,468,508 issued Sep. 23, 1969 to Huver shows an interesting manner of storing a long gun by the barrel. Install the cup-shaped member over the barrel, and tighten the thumb screw and hang the gun in the closet or any other convenient location, failure to remove the cup before firing could create a dangerous condition. In 1990 a Design patent was issued to Southard, No. 310,302, Sep. 4, 1990, for a gun cradle which appears to be adapted for use with a long gun but with some modification could be designed to cradle a handgun. The U.S. Patent issued to Reinflied, Jr. et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,208, dated Nov. 20, 1990 discloses a firearm support and it includes a support for both a handgun and a long gun. The purpose of the support is to make it convenient to repair and maintain the weapons. FIG. 4 illustrates the invention showing the barrel locked in clamp 20 and the butt in clamp 34. A U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,427 was granted to Law et al. on Jan. 22, 1991 for a storage rack for guns and other sporting equipment which is a rather typical style rack but lacks provision for the storage of small guns. A display stand for handguns is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,143,227 issued on Sep. 1, 1992 to Schubert. The stand is formed from plastic and contains a plurality of multangular slots designed to support a handgun in the area of the trigger guard, and allowing the gun to lean to the left giving the best viewing angle of the gun controls.
The prior art contains an interesting collection of gun stands and supports, however there still exists a need for a handgun stand that is suitable for storing guns in a confined area in a safe manner.